U.S. Rep. David Price will help lead a hearing Wednesday on how thousands of visitors were kept out of the presidential inauguration ceremony in January despite holding tickets.
On the late morning of Jan. 20, people were caught outside ticketed areas as Barack Obama took the stage to be sworn in. Many were corralled inside the underground Third Street tunnel, crammed together with few police officers around, in what became known as the Purple Tunnel of Doom, named after the ticket colors. Many were stuck inside the tunnel for several hours without moving.
The chaos marred an otherwise calm day, and congressional offices were flooded with complaints, reports Barb Barrett.
A congressional report released last week found that crowds showed up at the Capitol before police did, that screening lines became ineffective in part because of non-ticketed guests, that there was confusion among law enforcement about the crowds and that more people than expected showed up to watch the ceremony from areas close to the Capitol.
More after the jump.
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Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, will hold today’s joint hearing with the homeland security and legislative branch subcommittees of the House Committee on Appropriations. Price is chairman of the homeland security subcommittee.
Testifying will be the directors of the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police. The 2 p.m. hearing will be broadcast live on the web.
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Re: Price looks into inauguration mess
First, FFC1304, I love you. I hope one day you will reveal yourself. Second, is there really this much hum-drum on making sure the Inauguration of our President is as flawless as possible? I was there, it was a mess, and I hope that whatever happened, its fixed, notwithstanding who is elected to be our President.
Government is supposed to work towards making our society more efficient. Why don't you give them a chance to do their job (admist your humorous trolling).
PJ Puryear